Hello, I’m Dr. Karyn! Learn my introduction to be taught extra about me and meet my 5 hilarious cats: Clutch, Cyril, Alex, Zelda, and Zazzles.
I grew up in Queensland, Australia, then lived in Alice Springs within the Northern Territory for a few years earlier than shifting to the UK. And earlier than I had the 5 felines I share my dwelling with at this time, there was Gilbert and Sullivan; two cute feminine tabbies.
Gilbert was first on the scene, and Sully joined us two years later. They have been by no means the very best buddies I had hoped they might be, however they appeared to get alongside with out battle, completely satisfied to share house on my mattress and totally different perches on the cat tree. After a few 12 months, nonetheless, we started to suspect that each one was not nicely when Sully began peeing in every single place that weren’t a litter field.
Sully’s Problematic Peeing
Buying baggage, purses, and sneakers have been her favorites – notably embarrassing once they belonged to company. There was the occasional incident on my mattress, however by far the worst was when she piddled on the steam mop – steaming cat urine is an unforgettable expertise. My Dad would argue that probably the most regrettable urination state of affairs was the one within the fruit bowl, which was solely found after he’d sliced a banana on his breakfast cereal. At the least it was a fruit from which the pores and skin was utterly eliminated earlier than consuming!
In case you’ve ever needed to take care of inappropriate feline urination, you could be accustomed to a number of the ideas, methods, and methods we would have employed to sort out our wee drawback:
- Urinalysis to rule out irritation, an infection, or crystals
- Pheromone diffusers and sprays to assist her really feel settled
- Including an additional litter field to the three we already had, in a brand new location with a special sort of litter
- Cleansing any dirty floor with an enzymatic cleaner designed particularly for this goal
A few of these strategies helped for a time, however finally, the urination would return. The locations she was piddling recommended that this was territorial conduct, selecting vertical surfaces, my mattress, and gadgets that usually entered and exited the home. The issue was clear: regardless of appearances, Sully felt threatened by Gilbert, and was using passive-aggressive techniques to attempt to enhance her place within the dwelling.
Sully’s Persistent Problematic Urination
Sadly, realizing this was the issue did nothing to assist me discover a resolution, but it surely did display that there may be fairly intense friction between cats that seem like getting alongside simply fantastic.
This was an ongoing drawback for my household and I proper up till the time once I moved to Alice Springs, bringing Gilbert and Sully with me. I had prepped the brand new home with pheromone diffusers and sprays, and positioned litter bins in just a few totally different places to offer them loads of choices. After I first allow them to out of their journey crates, they spent the primary 48 hours huddled collectively behind the bathroom, barely shifting an inch. Afterwards, they started to bravely discover their new dwelling, together with their newly erected out of doors catio.
And guess what? The complete time we lived within the pink heart, there was by no means a single territorial pee. Each urination was contained inside the field, and I by no means had to purchase one other bottle of urine cleaner.
Classes from Sully’s Problematic Urination
So what modified?
Properly, I’ve a idea.
When Sully got here into the Queensland home, Gilbert had been there for a few years, comfy and settled in her well-established territory, so Sully employed her pheromonal protection system. Once we moved to Alice Springs, they entered the home as equals, sharing within the trauma of relocation and new territory.
So does that imply that it is advisable to transfer home to cease your cat from marking their territory? Hopefully not! It’s not a very economical resolution! However, I had a pal make use of a model of this methodology when she was having the identical drawback together with her cats. Like Sully, certainly one of her cats had joined the home later than the others and had taken to urinating on varied gadgets and areas. Having tried all the things else, she took my recommendation and despatched her three cats to remain at a cattery for every week. Whereas they have been gone, she did a radical clear of the home, furnishings, bedding, and garments, even utilizing a UV lamp to examine for traces of pee.
Lo and behold; when the three felines returned dwelling collectively, the territorial urination stayed away.
It might look like an excessive solution to method this drawback, however if you’re coping with inappropriate urination in a multi-cat family, and you’ve got explored all attainable causes and options, every week away might be simply what it is advisable to hold the cat pee odor away! At the least it’s value a strive.
This text is part of Dr. Karyn’s sequence together with her 5 hilarious cats.
